Ecumenical Patriarch grants interview to Jesuit journal
April 02, 2015
Father Antonio Spadaro, the director of the Italian Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica, has conducted a lengthy interview with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches.
The Ecumenical Patriarch spoke about the challenges facing the contemporary world, his admiration for Pope Francis, the upcoming pan-Orthodox synod, and Orthodox spirituality.
“Ultimately, it is essential to change the present mindset and abandon a lifestyle of over-consumption and unrestrained greed that inevitably lead to social injustice and inequality,” he told Father Spadaro, who interviewed Pope Francis in August 2013.
“The Apostle Paul teaches that greed leads us to the worship of material goods, which is idolatry, the greatest sin,” Patriarch Bartholomew added. “The Church teaches not greed but frugality-- namely, leading simpler lives. This is the essential message of the Orthodox Church to the contemporary world.”
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